CNN has apologised to Dolly Parton’s family after posting the wrong photo after her death.
The network accidentally used a photo of a Las Vegas impersonator while covering the iconic singer’s death.
“We regret the error and apologise to the Parton family,” CNN said in a statement.
They mistakenly used an image of Kelly Vohnn. The artist has since told that the photo was taken in December 2025, when she walked the red carpet at a Las Vegas screening of the film Song Sung Blue.
“I started getting all these texts in from friends saying that I was on CNN, and I couldn’t believe it,” Vohnn told The New York Post. “I was already heartbroken at losing Dolly because of how much she has given to me as a woman and an artist. But then to see these images of me on screen was just weird.”
Vohnn told how she has “never represented” herself as being Parton in her life, but that she has “always been known as a tribute act for her” amongst other stars. “I thought about calling CNN, but was really consumed by the grief of losing Dolly (and) I just wanted to be at home with my thoughts, raising a glass of wine to that brilliant woman,” she said.
Parton died of an undisclosed form of cancer on August 25. She was 80 years old.
